Nintendo DSi

[webbstre]

Announcement just finished here in Japan, here is the news:
av.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/20081002/nintendo.htm

Oh wait, only Chad can read it. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!



No seriously, Here are the details, fresh off out of the Fort Knox that is Nintendo:

*Release in Japan is November 1, for about 180 bucks.
*The new screen will be a quarter of an inch wider... for some reason.
* 3.0 Megapixel Camera on the back.
* Will play .aac music files via a new SD card slot... which replaces the old Gameboy Advance slots.
* The music can be altered in speed, tone, pitch, whatever by touching the screens with the touch pen.
*Music can also be purchased through the Wii's shopping channels.
*A specialized version of the Opera web browser will be included, and better wireless capabilities as well.
*Launch colors of Black or White.

And I read nothing yet that says both screens become touch. Oh, go look at some pictures of it.

[webbstre]

I was hoping for motion sensors and dual touch screens...

[webbstre]

You know what they need to do now... Mario Paint DS.

Also, I like how they just flipped off apple by sticking a lower case i on the END of their product... right where it won't get them sued.

[King Of Reading]

All right. I just saw this, and it doesnt seem that impressive to me. It's hardly the jump that the DS Lite was to the DS Phat.

This adds a camera (I've already got three), a SD slot for music (I can't count how many music players I have), and a LITTLE BIT bigger screen.

No thanks.

To top it all off, they took out the GBA slot, which probably doesn't matter to a lot of people, but if you're using Chad-brand sorcery, it matters. I'll stick with what I have.

That being said, if you didn't have a DS (which is pretty much my mom), it doesn't cost much more than the current DS Lite.

[webbstre]

I am going to agree with Chad on this one. The only way they could win me over is if some of these specially made DSi games (you download them to the SD card and play from there) looked any good.

[Deli Hand Grenade]

Big Thumbs Down from this camp. If you're going to come out with an all DS and raise the price $50 ... then make SUBSTANTIAL changes. This is bullcrap. This is basically just additional features that we don't need.

A Camera? A Music Player?

Why not add a phone and compete with the iPhone and other game playing mobile devices. That's what I would pool my resources into.

Don't you guys think that a DSphone would sell like hotcakes?

[webbstre]

Only in America... Europe and Asia already have phones that can do all that... in Korea the phones can even repel mosquitoes. I want to see Apple take that on.

[Deli Hand Grenade]

Chase ... The Japanese Phone Snob

[webbstre]

Oct 3, 2008 2:32:00 GMT -5 Deli Hand Grenade said:

Chase ... The Japanese Phone Snob

Actually, I have a "normal" phone... it only has two cameras and no televisions. I've had it for a few years, so when it finally breaks I will probably upgrade to something with a TV in it. Also a touch-pad mouse.

So calling me a japanese phone snob is like... calling me one of those people who upgrades their computer hardware every time something new comes out... when I am a "use it for years until it starts to fall apart" kind of guy.

Still, someday I may become a phone snob... especially if that mosquito option ever comes to this country. Damned teleporting insects.

[King Of Reading]

Is that mosquito thing real? That sounds too good to be true. Also...impossible.

And the pricing in Japan is about an extra $30 for this stuff. In America you guys aren't paying as much for your DS, and I really don't know why. But like I said before, it all seems pretty unnecessary.

And let's get something straight right now. I'm WAY more of a Japanese Phone Snob than Chase is. I almost made one of my friends here get the Japanese iPhone just so I could see what it could do. I didn't though, because that would make me a jerk. I AM however on my third phone in the same time Chase is on his 1st phone. We've both been back in Japan for just over 2 years and I'm never content with the phone I have. Even though mine has (get this)...

2 cameras
TV
3 incredibly useful dictionaries built-in
4 gigs of music
The ability to play just about any cell-phone game

And I can make calls too.

But I'm still unsatisfied because it's not as thin as I'd like it to be. So yeah, I've got some snob-ish tendencies.

Having the new DSi however is not one of them.

[Deli Hand Grenade]

My phone lets me respond to this thread on the go.

But here's question of the week ... Why in the hell does a phone need 2 cameras and why does it seem to come standard?

[webbstre]

Because one is on the front to take pictures of other things and has a flash... and the is on the inside and points towards you, if you want to take pictures of yourself to send people.

Just a few factoids about Japanese phones for you:
* Until televisions were implemented, they hadn't had visible antennae since the 90's.
* It is has been impossible to buy a phone WITHOUT a camera for at least half a decade.
* Text messaging was outdated probably a decade ago... SMS messages half a decade, and e-mail has been the norm since at least the time that SMS messages faded into meaninglessness.
* Because Japanese phones can call people, write e-mails, etc, people don't normally have their own computer until they are into college or later. High school kids with computers are rare.
* The televisions in japanese phones work to some degree if you take them to the US.
*Until very recently, an expensive phone cost 200 dollars. Until then you could find phones with all of this stuff (even TVs) for as little as a penny when you signed up for a phone plan.
*Flash games, video game emulators and ports, pdf file readers, and many other options are standard or possible with any modern phone (although you have to get the emulators yourself)

Chad should add some things to this list, since he has newer phones than I and most of my older info comes from my fiance and her family.